BMW will be re-entering motorsport, but it’s not the sport you had in mind

BMW has announced that they will have a full spec works team at the Formula E Season 5 in 2018 with an all-new powertrain.

Now, this should come as no shock that BMW plans to re-enter motorsport, although it’s probably a little bit of a shocker that they will not be entering the grand old sport of Formula One, have decided instead to go to Formula E, and there is a good reason for it. Most manufacturers use motorsport as a testing ground to develop new groundbreaking technologies, and what Formula One did for the combustion engine, Formula E will do for electric cars. BMW says that the will join the series in the fifth season (2018-2019) with a Formula E-machine that will feature a new ground-up BMW-developed powertrain. They have announced that their Formula E campaign will be in collaboration with the existing Andretti Team. BMW says their participation in the EV racing series will help them research and develop further EV technologies for cars in the future. “Through our involvement in Formula E, we are addressing the development towards sustainable and emission-free mobility in the automobile industry and are also making a contribution to the brand’s progression to BMW iNEXT,” said Klaus Fröhlich, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development. Now BMW isn’t the first manufacturer to get in on this project, they will go up alongside Renault, DS and Jaguar who are already competing in the series. BMW will make their debut along with German luxury car rival Audi who have also set their sights on the series alongside BMW.

"The borders between production and motor racing development are more blurred at BMW iMotorsport than in any other project. The result is a technology transfer on a whole new level. We are certainly confident that the BMW Group will benefit greatly from the experience gained in the field of electrotechnology during this project.”

This, however, isn’t BMW first tryst with Formula E. BMW already supply their cutting edge i8 and the i3 to the series to carry out safety and medical, car duties. BMW’s relationship with Andretti’s Formula E team in the Formula E has existed since early 2016, culminating in this year’s announcement that they will be joining as a works team with full racing capacity.